Biographical Sketch of David Mohler, Johnson County, Missouri,
Warrensburg Township
>From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell,
Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918.
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David Mohler, ex-county surveyor and president of the Johnson County
Mutual Insurance Association, is a native of Ohio. He was born in 1852
in Miami County, Ohio, a son of Ephraim and Anna (Nill) Mohler. Ephraim
Mohler was born in 1826 in Pennsylvania where he was reared and educat-
ed. When he attained maturity he left Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio.
In 1869, when his son, David, was seventeen years of age, Ephraim came
to Missouri with his family and settled in Johnson county on a farm
twelve miles south of Warrensburg. Anna (Nill) Mohler, the mother of
the subject of this review, was a native of Germany. She was born in
1826 and with her parents immigrated to America when she was six years
of age, about 1832. Ephraim and Anna Mohler were the parents of the
following children: Mrs. Mary Wenrick, Leeton, Mo.; George, Pleasant
Hill, Ohio; J. B., Cleveland, Ohio; David, the subject of this sketch;
R. D., Warrensburg; Ephraim S., Covington, Ohio; Mrs. Ida Coppock,
Mechanicsburg, Ohio; and S. N., a Baptist minister, St. Louis, Mo.
Ephraim Mohler returned to Ohio at one time and remained in that state
ten years when he came back to Johnson county. He was one of the char-
ter members of the Brethren church of Leeton, which was organized about
1871. His death occurred in 1906 and he and his wife, who died the
next year, were buried in the cemetery at Leeton. David Mohler attend-
ed the public schools of Johnson County and the Warrensburg State
Normal School. He took the two years' course at the State Normal and
after he left college was engaged in teaching for fourteen years. In
the summers he was employed in farming. In 1907 he moved to Leeton,
Missouri when he was appointed road commissioner and surveyor of John-
son County. Mr. Mohler served in this capacity ten years, his term of
office expiring in February, 1917. During his administration as sur-
veyor the county road system was developed and put successfully in
operation. He, in connection with J. Ransom Grinstead, county clerk,
and the county court, seriously considered the need of a system of good
roads and in 1909 built two concrete culverts to ascertain the cost as
well as the durability. A cry was raised throughout the county against
this innovation on account of the cost, but the builders proceeded un-
dauntedly and the following year let the contract for sixty four foot
culverts and two crews were employed making culverts and placing from
six to eight in each township. In 1912 three crews of seven teams and
ten men were employed in grading the roads. Sixty miles each year were
completed at an average cost of about two hundred dollars a mile, not
including the cost of the culverts. Today, Johnson County has three
hundred miles of good roads with splendid culverts, numbering more than
a thousand on the different highways. All the roads were completed in
the fall of 1916 and the people of the county are now unanimous in
their approval. They have seen the wisdom and foresight of the county
surveyor, clerk, and county judges. The judges who were associated
with Mr. Mohler in the work were: W. A., Stevens, R. H. Wood, W. B.
Pemberton, E. F. Tracy, B. F. Summers, D. L. Day, E. S. Harte, and C.C.
Atkins. In 1878 David Mohler and Anna M. Davis were united in marriage
Anna M. (Davis) Mohler is the daughter of E. A. and Caroline Davis, of
Leeton, Missouri. Both father and mother of Mrs. Mohler are now de-
ceased and they are interred in Roop cemetery. To David H. and Anna M.
Mohler have been born four children: Lee, Leeton, Mo.; Nellie, the wife
of J. H. Duckwall of Warrensburg; Maurice, who is in charge of the
Manual Training department in the schools of Pittsburg, Penn.; and
Flora, the wife of W. H. Stacy of Leeton, Missouri. Mr. Mohler was one
of the organizers of the Johnson County Mutual Insurance Association.
This company began with risks amounting to two hundred fifty thousand
dollars and at present carries risks amounting to more than six million
dollars. Mr. Mohler has been president of the company for the past
twelve years. Losses are always promptly paid and the sound, prosper-
ous condition of the association is principally due to the president's
executive ability, keen business judgement, and initiative.
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